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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502349">you keep me close (when i've been miserable)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/katasstropheee/pseuds/katasstropheee'>katasstropheee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT (Movies - Muschietti)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Short One Shot, Unofficial Sequel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:00:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/katasstropheee/pseuds/katasstropheee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Oh come on, Dead-Eds. I’m just teasing.” His nicknames hadn’t improved much either. But it had only been three months since Eddie had reappeared in the imaging chamber and back into his husband’s life. He could cut him some slack.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>an unofficial sequel to "the long way around" by waveridden.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddie Kaspbrak &amp; Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you keep me close (when i've been miserable)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/waveridden/gifts">waveridden</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAZ!</p><p>this was quite a feat to write, given this is both my first eddie/richie fic, and my first overall IT fic. i was also taking heavy inspiration from your fic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25709959">"the long way around"</a> as you can see above. so i hope this can meet your level of greatness. i just loved your story so much and wanted to do it justice!</p><p>title is a lyric from the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTwj7PhpY9M">"painkiller" by ruel</a>. you should also check that out. a good reddie song imo.</p><p>*and please ignore any grammatical errors you see. i will edit this again in due time. but for now, i wanted it out in time for jaz's big day!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eddie knew the walls of the room weren’t closing in on him. It was just his imagination.</p><p>Or perhaps, having spent the last two years invading stranger’s spaces and bodies had given him a sixth sense for spatial awareness. Like it was his superpower.</p><p>Bringing this up to Richie had been a terrible idea. Not just because his position at the facility gave him no authority over neuroscience or psychological study (those were Bill’s and Stan’s department.) But giving Richie the fuel to add yet another item to his mile long list of things to tease Eddie about, proved a dangerous feat.</p><p> “Oh come on, Dead-Eds. I’m just teasing.” His nicknames hadn’t improved much either. But it had only been three months since Eddie had reappeared in the imaging chamber and back into his husband’s life. He could cut him some slack.</p><p>Three months was a long time. Well, it felt long when he was traversing between long days at the facility, taking test after test, and long days at home, pacing wall to wall as if the place he missed the most during his impossible sabbatical had suddenly become like a prison.</p><p>It had felt too good to sit on his favourite recliner, to sleep in his own bed beside the man he loves. But restlessness was slowly filling his head with ghosts. And he would much rather Richie’s company than those of who he once inhabited.</p><p>“Seriously Richie, keep still or I’ll jab you with my fork!”</p><p>“Oh, don’t tempt me.”</p><p>Eddie sighed, taking a large mouthful of the last of his salad, his elbow increasing pressure on Richie’s thigh as he squirmed again. He knew it was a terrible idea to begin with, to eat anything with his partner’s legs resting over his lap. But he wouldn’t dare tell Richie to move away. He’s missed this bastard far too much for that.</p><p>“Well, I’m done now. So you can let me up” he said, a mouthful of lettuce and shredded carrot causing his words to come out slurred, and almost intangible.</p><p>Richie seemed to understand him perfectly, as he applied more pressure to his calves. Eddie was halted mid-shuffle, giving the man an imposing glare. He got a smile in return. “Come on babe, relax. You have nowhere to be.”</p><p>“I have an appointment with Stan in 15 minutes.”</p><p>“You know what I mean-“</p><p>“And you are technically still on the clock, Rich.”</p><p>His partner groaned, letting gravity drop his legs to the floor as Eddie stumbled to standing. He managed to stay perfectly planted on the old, tartan couch, despite half his body slowly falling off.</p><p>Eddie caught the sighs of discontent grow behind him, only getting louder the more they were ignored. He was used to such behaviour, even if he had briefly forgotten all about it, and cleaned his dishes without feeling the need to feed the beast that continued to thrash out of his line of sight.</p><p>“Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, tastes like stale bread-y…”</p><p>“You could at least come up with better pet names” Eddie called over his shoulder. He took the silence that followed as a win, though he knew it was never that easy with Richie.</p><p>And he’d been right, knowing it had come too soon when he felt the man suddenly appear out of nowhere, to wrap his arms around his waist. Richie buried his head deep into his neck, kissing his shoulder through the padding of his sweater. Eddie fought the urge to squirm at the hot breath tickling his skin.</p><p>“I’ll work harder” Richie muttered into the soft material, muffled to others (if they weren’t abruptly left alone in the team’s dorm space) but perfectly clear to Eddie’s ears. “I promise Babe. I will try harder.”</p><p>“Richie.” His name came out like a song, unintentionally. But he just loved saying his name.</p><p>Somehow he had manoeuvred himself to stand before Richie, with somehow, the latter’s arms still braced at his back. “I could not ask for more than what you’ve given me.”</p><p>“Stop it Eds. You’re… hurting my cavity.”</p><p>“You bitch.”</p><p>It felt so easy. Too easy. But Eddie wasn’t counting his blessings as anything but.</p><p>He was here in the moment, holding Richie’s shaking form as he chuckled at his own, poor-in-taste joke. Eddie couldn’t hold back his own laughter. There was something he found so endearing about his ability to cut right through his nerve, and straight to the centre of his soul.</p><p>He placed kisses on his forehead, ignoring the sweat that lined his hairline. Sharp hints of shampoo filled his nostrils, with a hint of hazy cologne. It’s a musk he recognised all too well, and breathed it in like he was running out of oxygen and this might just be his last.</p><p>Time must’ve passed more quickly than Eddie had anticipated, cause they’re moment was soon interrupted. But Beverly at least had the wherewithal to knock lightly, breaking them apart with as little ease and tension as possible. “Stan’s ready for you, Eddie.”</p><p>Again, it took too much of a struggle to get out of Richie’s grasp. But with a promise of returning to his arms promptly, he was let go. With one last lingering kiss to his cheek, and a critique of needing a proper shave when they got home, Eddie left Richie standing by the kitchen bench.</p><p>He caught the edge of the bar before he could fall, the absence of Eddie already making his skin crawl with anxiety. He didn’t mean to be so clingy. So needy. And if he had even half a brain, he would give Eddie the space he really needs. But the half he had wanted nothing more than to tie him down. He didn’t trust gravity enough, to know it wouldn’t take Eddie away from him again as soon as he let go.</p><p>With his head ducked and eyes closed, he was only partially aware of Beverly’s presence. She stood by his side at the sink, tinkering with her mug and seemingly paying no mind to his small breakdown.</p><p>But her attentiveness was felt when she placed a hand on one of his own. “You’re doing great, Richie” she offered in consideration, feeling a tiny ounce of pressure leave Richie’s body with that observance. “No one expects you to stay strong right now.”</p><p>“Eddie does” he replied in earnest, wiping dew from his cheeks. “He might not say it out loud, but I don’t think I could let him down again, you know.”</p><p>She gave him a courteous stare, turning so her body faced him, hand still threaded through his fingers. “You never let him down. You were there, even when he didn’t need it. Or didn’t know it. You were his constant.” She pulls him forward into a hug both are comfortable with, knowing neither weren’t usually this emotionally open around each other. But out of everyone in their small club of geeks, she was the one he would open up to the most, if Eddie was out of the picture. “And you were what brought him home.”</p><p>He hadn’t expected to cry that day. He had been a snobby mess the whole first week of Eddie’s return, and on the occasional day after that. How had his body not completely drained of tears to spend?</p><p>Again, it was not his science-specific background, but maybe it was a question for Stan. Or maybe, it was just destiny’s way of keeping his heart in the right place. He could chase theories and deep thoughts all day long, but that would only lead him to answers he could not rectify. At least here and now, Eddie was a beacon of light, leading him to what matters.</p><p>And all that matters, is that Eddie is home.</p><p>#</p><p>Eddie doesn’t get out of Stan’s office til well after six. Between Bill’s constant probing and Stan’s mental perceptions, he’s exhausted. But he can’t blame them for wanting to be thorough. It had been a thrilling, if not terrifying two years for the crew, and they had questions. Both from a methodical mindset, and from consideration for their friend’s well-being. So he sat still, letting Bill take test after test, and letting Stan ask whatever questions he had, even if they were repetitive and seemed useless under the current circumstances.</p><p>The horizon gave off a small flare of remaining sunlight, enough that Eddie didn’t need his sunglasses to drive home. But that didn’t stop Richie from throwing on a pair as soon as they exited the facility.</p><p>“Of course they know I drink on the job” he bit back as Eddie inquired about his dark lids, rumpled clothes, and obvious stench of strong liquor that wasn’t present during their mid-lunch embrace. “On some days, it was the only way I could get through work without you there.”</p><p>He watched his partner with caution, and a hint of fondness he hid well beneath his scrutiny. He wasn’t inebriated enough to not hold light conversation, but he still stumbled on his trek out to the car. Then again, Richie often walked like a deer steering ice for the first time, even while sober.</p><p>“I can’t judge you” Eddie admitted, having not completely grasped what his partner had been through while he was away. He had heard stories from the others, observations of Richie’s odd and hoard-like behaviour as the years sped by. He had even looked up security footage to see these mannerisms for himself. But grainy, colourless imagery could only display so much without context. When Richie was ready to spill his guts out, both figuratively and actually, Eddie would be there. Disgusted, but willing to endure.</p><p>“You shouldn’t” Richie approved, throwing a wild smile over his shoulder, and nearly falling face first over a curb stop. His save was as graceful as the mop of hair that stuck up like a brewing tsunami atop his head. And despite the sudden danger Richie could’ve found himself in, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. It was emphasised with snorts that erupted from his throat, causing Richie to turn and give him his full attention. “What was that, Miss Piggy?”</p><p>“I think… huh, I think I needed that.”</p><p>The laughter was contagious, and both dorks stumbled their way to the vehicle, hands thrown around each other – Eddie to stop his partner from tumbling over, and Richie for the sheer love of holding him close.</p><p>They made it the vehicle in record time. Eddie had missed the long drives, and he had missed this car most of all – a shabby, off-yellow station wagon that had mostly likely seen better days. But it was his home away from home. He had taken many drives in its leather-bound interior, as he recalls Beverly pointing out during one of his more fondly recalled trips. She had been right about how he relaxed he was with his hands at the wheel, and long stretches of highways in his path.</p><p>Now, with the offset of dusk slowly melting away, and the roads clear of afternoon traffic (thankfully! That was something Eddie had not missed about his drive to work and back) he was able to feel the tension leave his body with every jolt over the cracked asphalt.</p><p>Richie, ever the loud observer, playing with the dials of the radio like it was a game of Pong, was not his usual abashed self this evening. His favoured off-brand mix of pop and rock stations that lined the valley were swapped for deafening snores, that filled the car with an odd beat Eddie could still find rhythm in. The long ride home – 25 minutes without disturbance – was the right amount of time Eddie needed to centre himself. Back to the earth. Back to his body. Back to this moment in time.</p><p>He had taken up meditation, a suggestion from Stan. And for the most part it was working. He even found Richie, who would tease him endlessly about his new-age diets and vitamin consumption, hadn’t said a thing about it. Sometimes he even caught Richie, in a moment of privacy, focusing his breathing, uttering some hushed mantra through his chiselled chin.</p><p>He felt moved by his partner’s relentless devotion to keeping Eddie safe. It was strange for sure, but given everything he welcomed it with opened arms. He caught a glimpse of Richie, mouth hanging open, drooped in his seat, as streetlights passed overhead. They were almost home now.</p><p>Their house was isolated, situated at the end of a wide cul-de-sac. With pleasant views of the valley and city below – which was a beautiful sight at night, with streetlights and passing cars lighting up the wide expense of dessert like a live motherboard – it was a pleasant place to live.</p><p>Despite Richie’s extreme personality, he was a private man. He recalls the very beginnings of their relationship, and how it had taken some time to worm his way into Richie’s apartment. Their clandestine meetings always happened in Eddie’s space. So on the first day he stumbled backwards through Richie’s doorway, shirt halfway off and fly halfway undone, he was surprised to find… Richie was not as untidy as his work space made him out to be. He was at least organised with his mess. And he made his bed at the end of the day. Well, start of the day, as Eddie had observed before he was thrown onto a thick duvet and ravaged into oblivion.</p><p>So upon finding their own place and it, over time, becoming their sanctuary away from the humdrum of hectic life, they finally learned that the saying “home is where the heart is” wasn’t just relevant for cheesy rom-coms or embroidery.</p><p>They also had an amazing view of the sunset falling past distant canyons, turning the sky into a wave of deep mauve and bright orange. But the sun had been down a while by the time Eddie had finally pulled into the driveway. He turned the car off and sunk deep into his seat, eyes shutting for a moment as he let the last malleable energy of the day fade from his body.</p><p>“Hmm, are we there yet?”</p><p>Eddie chuckled, eyes still shut. He was aware of Richie moving beside, his arm occasionally brushing his shoulder as stretched out his body, the cracks he produced making Eddie shiver. “You’re a bit late to play that game, honey.”</p><p>“I know” he yawned. “I’m just… I think I’m gonna call it a night.”</p><p>He turned his head to finally look over at Richie, who was scratching behind his ear, lips upturned like a dog itching a particularly ticklish patch of fur. “Me too” he agreed, sighing as he took in the moment one last time.</p><p>Making their way inside deemed harder than Eddie had anticipated. He carried Richie over the threshold, dragging him the rest of the way to the bedroom. Guess Richie had decided his day was over as soon as he climbed into the vehicle, cause he barely assisted Eddie in his movement.</p><p>With one last huff, he was thrown on the soft covers, face first. He muffled something unheard to Eddie, who had already entered the bathroom.</p><p>Neither were hungry enough to think about making dinner before retiring. Both had eaten at work anyway, even if energy bars and vending machine snacks weren’t the healthiest of options to end the day with. Richie rolled over, his rag doll movements pushing the cover over to Eddie's side of the bed. At a more comfortable position, Richie called out to Eddie; “Are you coming to bed, love?”</p><p>“Yes” came the faint response. He must’ve been brushing his teeth.</p><p>Richie moaned, letting himself sink deep into the mattress, kicking off his shoes with the last bit of exertion he had left. He heard them fall to the floor with a dull thunk, followed by another.</p><p>Eddie returned to the room, paying them no mind, too focused on unclasping the buttons on his cuffs. He caught Richie’s squirms from the corner of his eye. “Strip for me Eddie.”</p><p>He scoffed. “Seriously?”</p><p>“Come on, Magic Ed. Show me what you’ve got.” He threw an arm over his chest. “If I had money, I’d throw it at you.”</p><p>Eddie slowly undressed, keeping his back to his husband. “Perhaps another time.”</p><p>“No, no. Hold on. Here, let me set the mood.” He then proceeded to hum some kind of music Eddie vaguely recognised. But it came out sounding more like a cheap 80’s porn soundtrack. He paid him no mind, following the cotton sleeves of his shirt down his arms. Usually he would opt for a matching pyjama set – yet another thing Richie would endlessly taunt him about. But tonight he was far too exhausted for that. He unbuckled his jeans, needing extra manoeuvrability to work the tight material over his thighs. Guess Richie was given a show after all, as he wiggles his hips suggestively, giving his partner a perfect view of his brief-clenched butt.</p><p>“Yes, baby. Take it off. Woo.”</p><p>Eddie snickered, kicking his pants up into his hands and dropping them in the hamper. Richie had gone quiet after that last comment. Upon inspection, he saw he was fast asleep. It was an honest miracle that Richie could fall deep into slumber so quickly, without putting in any effort. It was always took Eddie far too long to calm his mind, or to get comfortable after turning beneath the covers for a few minutes before he found the optimal position.</p><p>But tonight, he didn’t think he would have much trouble. He felt something deep settle in his chest, like a weight was no longer there and he was using the space it had taken up for more useful things.</p><p>He flicked off the main light, his lamp still illuminating the room in a soft glow. Climbing onto the mattress, he first reached for Richie’s glasses, folding down the temples and resting it on the head of the bed frame. Then, before settling in for the night, he placed a kiss on Richie’s cheek, holding it there for a moment longer. He felt Richie reach for him in his tired state, following his lips as he moved back away. He nestled onto his back, arm folding out as Richie, without prompt, melted into his side, head resting over his chest. His heartbeat picked up briefly, before resolving back to its usual beat.</p><p>Another long day had passed. But one he had come out at the other better for. Richie was still here, an anchor tethering him to his form, and to the world around him. He was finally home.</p>
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